Quad Blogs

Seven Business Days of Whedon continues with the top twelve ANGEL episodes. Talk about cutting to the chase.

ANGEL is my second favorite show of all-time, right behind LOST. ANGEL did not have a poor season besides the first season but Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt were unsure about the creative direction of the show for most of that season. They are quoted as saying they figured things out by “Hero,” but I disagree.

Whedon wanted to give Boreanaz his own show after seeing the performance he gave in “I Only Have Eyes For You,” a season two Buffy episode. He and David Greenwalt developed the series together and agreed they wanted ANGEL to be more adult than Buffy and more ambivalent. The demons weren’t black and white evil in LA. Whedon wanted ANGEL to capture the post-college experience of young adults. What I like most about ANGEL are the prevailing themes in the show of atonement, forgiveness, redemption, doing good, etc. Angel’s a character who never quits seeking atonement. The characters in ANGEL are united in their desire to help the helpless.

The characters are the strongest part of the show. The show was initially conceived as a film-noirish, detective show in which Angel, Cordelia and Doyle would solve a case each and every week but that concept didn’t work well in the Buffyverse because fans were too attached to the characters. The show abandoned the detective cases for storytelling fans were familiar with on Buffy. Joss and Greenwalt realized they didn’t need complex stories coming from out of the Angel offices though they thought the stories would come from the case; the stories could come out of the characters already established and the few new characters the show introduced.

Creatively, things took off for the show at the end of season one when they brought back Darla (Julie Benz). Season two is about Angel and Darla and then it becomes a story about Angel’s path to the dark side, and his eventual journey back to the good side and into the good graces of his friends whom he hurt very deeply when he went solo because of his obsession with Darla. The show found itself an identity and every character had an identity. All of the essential characters entered into the story by season’s end. Lorne (Andy Hallett) is introduced in the premiere, Fred (Amy Acker) is introduced during the Pylea arc and Gunn is introduced in season one’s “War Zone.” Once the writers had their world and characters established, the show absolutely took off. Seasons three and four demolish seasons six and seven of Buffy (both aired at the same time). While the quality of Buffy diminished, the quality of ANGEL just improved every single week. The show was so tightly constructed and plotted. Season four spans a period of just 2-3 weeks.

And season five, the show’s last season, maybe the show’s strongest season. TheWB wanted ANGEL to abandon the serialized style that dominated season four because they wanted new viewers to understand the story if they were interested in tuning in. The writers moved the characters into the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart which provided a wealth of story as shades of grey became the dominant theme of the season. How much good could the characters do in a place that isn’t designed for good?

Whedon asked TheWB head, Jordan Levin, for an early renewal but Levin balked and swiftly cancelled the show. Of course, Levin lost his job very soon afterwards and the new boss said if Joss had waited a few more weeks, ANGEL would’ve gotten its sixth season.

It’s truly a terrific series. I understand that Netflix added the entire series to instantly watch. While I recommend those with netflix take advantage of the opportunity to watch the whole series, I mostly recommend those with netflix to check out, at least, one of the fourteen episodes I rank.

Note: I forgot about season two’s Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been? but I am now too frustrated with wordpress to switch everything around. Thank you. Good day.

THE TOP 14 ANGEL EPISODES

14. Destiny (Written By David Fury & Steven S. DeKnight; Directed By Skip Schoolnik)

The Shanshu prophecy returns in this episode, just in time for Spike to become a real boy. After seven episodes where he was incorporeal, Spike opens a piece of mail and becomes corporeal for the first time since he burned up in the hellmouth. The firm goes insane so Angel and Spike are told that two vampires with a soul upsets the balance. One will need to drink from the Cup of Perpetual Torment to restore order and determine the true champion as well as find out who will be Shanshued once the final battle has been fought. It’s all a con set up by Lindsay, who returns for the first time since “Dead End.” The episode has a near three act fight between Spike and Angel. It’s fantastic.

13. Awakening (Written By David Fury & Steven S. DeKnight; Directed By James A. Contner)

The episode is a jaw-dropper. I don’t want to say too much should anyone venture to watch this season four episode. I sat with my jaw dropped after the episode ended. It’s a brilliantly plotted episode and would’ve loved to be in the writer’s room as they broke this one.

12. Spin The Bottle (Written&Directed By Joss Whedon)

Sure this episode is a retread of Buffy’s “Tabula Rasa” but the episode is so much fun. The characters revert to their teenage personas which means a return of classic bitchy Cordelia.

11. Damage (Written By Steven S. DeKnight & Drew Goddard; Directed By David Fury)

In the series finale of Buffy, every potential slayer becomes a slayer thanks to Willow’s magic. This episode is about one of those Slayers who was already severely damaged and it’s an episode about being a victim. Angel would like to try to save Dana from herself but Andrew and the new slayers take her to England to be trained by the new Watchers council. Outstanding episode.

10. The Trial (Written By Douglas Petrie & Tim Minear; Directed By Bruce Seth Green)

Darla was dying from a disease before the Master sired her 400 years ago. Naturally, in her second life, she is still dying and Angel wants to save her. This is sort of like Sysyphus and the rock in that Angel completes difficult trials only to be told that Darla’s been given her second life. Of course, we’ll later learn that the life he earned is his son’s. Julie Benz is so good in this episode and she even sings. David Greenwalt wrote the story for this; also, this one of the first episodes of ANGEL that made me realize how good the show is. Yes.

9. Reprise (Written By Tim Minear; Directed By James Whitmore Jr.)

A season two episode in which Angel is still after Darla, who is a vampire again by the way. Angel prevents a ritual from being performed at a Wolfram and Hart gig. Angel’s plan is to go to the home office to finish off the law firm but the home office is just earth and this revelation sends Angel into despair. The elevator scene between Holland and Angel is among the series best as Holland points out the ugliness of humanity. Soon after, he goes to Darla and the two have sex. Meanwhile, Kate is fired, Wesley gets dumped and Cordy will find herself in some trouble.

8. A Hole In The World (Written & Directed By Joss Whedon)

Winifred Burkle dies and Illyria is born. I love how the episode is shot as well as the love all of the male characters have for Fred as they try to save her life. There are so many good scenes and great bonding between Angel and Spike. One of Joss’ best episodes.

7. Not Fade Away (Written by Jeffrey Bell & Joss Whedon; Directed By Jeffrey Bell)

The final episode of ANGEL is satisfying. There are many callbacks. Connor and Angel are finally experiencing a good father/son relationship. Spike’s poetry is actually cheered. Gunn goes back to his old neighborhood to help Anne. Wesley dies in the finale in one of the saddest scenes in all of the whedonverse thanks to Illyria becoming Fred as Wesley dies. And nothing tops the final moment: our gang fighting because the fight never stops.

6. Sleep Tight (Written By David Greenwalt; Directed By Terrence O’Hara)

The saddest episode of ANGEL. Holtz kidnaps Connor and escapes into a hell dimension. Wesley betrays Angel and actually takes Connor’s son first and then his throat is slit by Justine.

5. Lineage (Written By Drew Goddard; Directed By Jefferson Kibbee)

Throughout the series, we’ve known that Wesley’s relationship with his father wasn’t good. In this, his father visits and he continually insults his own son. Later, Wolfram&Hart is attacked by cyborgs and that Wesley’s father is seemingly behind it. Wesley takes the insults from his father throughout but shoots him without hesitation when he threatens Fred’s life. His father is revealed to be a robot as well. The episode ends with Wesley calling his actual father and his dad is as cruel as ever. Any episode that focuses on Wesley is usually great because of how talented an actor Alexis Denisof is and the story in “Lineage” is very strong and very sad.

4. Smile Time (Written & Directed By Ben Edlund)

Puppet Angel. It’s the funniest episode of the series and an absolute delight to watch.

3. Epiphany (Written By Tim Minear; Directed By Thomas J. Wright)

“Epiphany” has my all-time favorite ANGEL scene where Angel tells Kate that “if nothing we do matters then all that matters is what we do.” Angel has an epiphany after a moment of perfect despair with Darla. He saves the day and begins the process of being forgiven by his friends. It’s also the last Kate episode. Kate, by the way, was an awful, awful character.

2. Home (Written & Directed By Tim Minear)

“Home” had to accomplish a few things: move the characters into Wolfram & Hart, write out Cordelia and resolve the Angel/Connor storyline. The episode is well-done on all fronts. The conclusion of the Angel/Connor storyline is particularly touching. Connor is pretty much beyond saving after everything he’s experienced. Angel is reluctant to sign a contract with Wolfram&Hart until he sees the state his son is in. Connor’s ready to kill himself, Cordelia and all the customers in the store he’s taken over. Angel arrives and the two talk and fight. David Boreanaz and Vincent Kartheiser are excellent during the entire scene. The context of the scene is tough to convey considering the space but believe me when I write Minear manages to include a season’s worth of emotional conflict into seven minutes. It’s remarkable and the prophecy “the father will kill the son” comes true. Powerful stuff.

1. You’re Welcome (Written & Directed By David Fury)

The 100th episode and Cordy’s goodbye episode. It’s moving and it sets the stage for the final episodes of ANGEL. Cordy asks the Powers for one last favor: help Angel rediscover his purpose. Angel does. They finally kiss and, by episode’s end, we learn that Cordelia died. What an episode.

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK

Welcome to the Week of Whedon + 2 days, friends and well-wishers.

The week will be grand fun. So fun that you will want to Charleston.

It is no secret that I’m a Joss Whedon fan. I began watching Buffy in the early aughts and then I began watching ANGEL. I had a fairly unorthodox approach to both shows. I bought season three of Buffy on DVD before seeing any other season. I watched ANGEL out of order. During its original run on theWB, I’d tune in every Halloween because I thought Buffy was the perfect show for one to embrace the Halloween spirit. I believe the only Halloween episode I caught was season four’s “Fear, Itself,” a favorite of mine. I also watched “Hush” when it originally aired but that’s about it. The series ended and I would catch the odd repeat Saturday afternoons on FOX or some insane hour like 3AM on FOX. I enjoyed what I saw immensely. I researched the show and saw that season three is considered the best season of Buffy. I nearly purchased season six first. Thank the Smoke Monster that I didn’t (that is just an expression–LOST was 2 years away from existing).

I loved season three and eventually bought every season but the first. Meanwhile, I became a huge ANGEL fan after seeing “Orpheus” repeat on TheWB combined with how much I enjoyed the odd rerun I saw on FOX.

The ANGEL journey is much more out of order than Buffy. Season five began on TheWB so I began watching it while catching repeats every day on TNT after I returned from Carroll. I had the experience of knowing major plot points but unaware of how the show arrived at those plot points so it was fun, believe it or not. ANGEL quickly vaulted over Buffy as my favorite Joss Whedon show. Of course, much of ANGEL’s credit goes to David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, Jeff Bell and Steven S. DeKnight. Whedon has said that he was involved with ANGEL as much as he was with Buffy, that he read every single script. I believe that but I think it’s wrong to throw praise at Joss for a show whose vision and identity was largely shaped by David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, Jeff Bell, Mere Smith, Steven S. DeKnight, Shawn Ryan and David Fury. Joss deserves his due praise and credit for ANGEL because he co-created the show with Greenwalt but Greenwalt ran the show on a day-to-day basis.

ANGEL always seemed like the stepchild show for Joss. He’ll never love a show as much as he loves Buffy though he loved Firefly so much that he made it into a movie with the help of some friends at Universal. There are groups of fans who think Joss didn’t understand or, rather, know how to write for ANGEL which is a bold statement in and of itself to suggest Joss didn’t understand one of his own shows. His episodes had a different tone than most of ANGEL. He usually wrote stand-alone episodes like “Spin The Bottle” and “Waiting In The Wings.”

The big episodes of ANGEL were always reserved for Greenwalt before he left or for Minear or Bell or DeKnight. Joss did write the season five premiere, an episode that set the stage for the Wolfram & Hart era and he wrote a key season five episode when Fred dies but even “A Hole In The World” gets criticized for the Buffy-ness in the dialogue and the Buffy tone of the episode.

The quality of ANGEL never declined like the quality of Buffy did during the UPN years (seasons six and seven). Many, many fans blame Marti Noxon for destroying the seasons. Many fans point to Joss’ focus on Firefly combined with Marti Noxon running the show with a less-involved Joss. The truth is hard to find because Joss and Marti refuse to agree with the opinion of many fans and no fans were in the writer’s room on a day-to-day basis to figure out what the heck happened to the show. The duo defend many of the questionable things in both seasons passionately particularly the Spike/Buffy relationship and all of the nonsense that brought us. The same essential group of writers remained until the end, the same group that are responsible for the best Buffy season in season three and two strong seasons in four and five. Marti hired one of the most popular and best writers in the Whedon world–Drew Goddard–for season seven but he was a lone figure in a ship that had sunk and, somehow, managed to sink even further. It was like they were trapped in the box in the ocean that Connor trapped Angel in at the end of season three. Drew Goddard was not their Wesley, who pulled Angel from the depths and saved his unlife. The final two seasons of Buffy are a mystery that will remain unresolved.

In the commentary for “Chosen,” the series finale of Buffy, Joss talks about exhaustion and how he’s not beaming about the work he did for the finale. A few days ago, Marti basically said the Buffy writers were tired and, possibly, ran out of stories to tell. No matter how bad the last two seasons of the show are, they do not diminish the first five seasons of the show. Joss did some amazing work during the first five years of Buffy and he did some great work in season six like the musical but those seasons are, largely, trainwrecks. Buffy did change television and the thought behind what television could accomplish. In a commentary for Reptile Boy, Greenwalt talks about the days when hour-dramas could only be serious but Joss changed that. He not only broke genre conventions but he broke the rules. He mixed drama, comedy, horror. He helped secure the credibility of TheWB network. The most defining part of the first five seasons are the stories, the weekly episodes. The season long arcs are great too but young, aspiring screenwriters can learn a ton by watching the episodes and listening to commentary tracks. The one thing you’ll always hear is the importance of the story with Joss. He doesn’t care for a lot of cool things happening in an episode if there’s no story. “Innocence” is one of the best examples. The story is simple: a girl sleeps with her boyfriend for the first time and he’s a bad guy the morning after. Of course, in Joss’ show, the boyfriend becomes a soulless vampire.

The same structure and focus existed in ANGEL and, certainly, in Firefly. Firefly is a gem of a show. The fourteen episodes are a joy to watch with the exception being “Heart Of Gold.” If Buffy had to suffer in quality because of Firefly then the trade-off is worth it. Joss attributes the quality of the show to the circumstances surrounding the production of the show. They were in constant threat of cancellation so they put everything on the table. Joss’ devotion to Firefly is admirable. The man created nine distinct characters, characters who were fully developed with plenty of depth. Whedon said he had five years of the show planned and I believe him. Firefly is a show about the people in between the heroes. Normal folks like us. Joss took his love for the movie to the big screen after FOX cancelled it. He assembled one of the greatest casts ever with the help of his casting director. He was wise and let Tim Minear run the show with him. He had the eye to cast the lovely Christina Hendricks as Saffron. Some of Joss’ best work is, no doubt, on Firefly.

He returned to ANGEL after the end of Firefly and Buffy. Jordan Levin would cancel ANGEL and Joss disappeared from television for a few years. During the writer’s strike in 2008, he came up with Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. It won an emmy and starred NPH, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day. He co-wrote it with his sister-in-law and two brothers. He wrote the music and directed it. The web short won an emmy. He also brainstormed Dollhouse during this period of time, while eating lunch with Eliza Dusku. Dollhouse is a different show though it features many familiar Whedon elements. It is a story about people, identity. The first season is fairly uneven but the second season is one heck of a story. Like Firefly, the show didn’t stand much of a chance at getting a third so Joss and his group of writers that included Tim Minear left everything on the table for season two. The season had a slow start but kicked into full gear by episode four, a brilliant Sierra episode and the show doesn’t slow down until the last credit is shown.

Of course, during these projects, Joss began writing the season eight Buffy comic and overseeing the ANGEL: After The Fall comics.

He wrote a few x-men comics too, but years earlier. The season eight Buffy comics are wrapping up right now. I have not kept up with the comics because I’ve never been a comic guy. But Joss delivered a moving story, in issue five, about an unknown slayer who dies. The story for ANGEL was also riveting as we were told that Fred wasn’t absolutely gone and that ANGEL became human. Also, speaking of comics, he wrote the Fray comics about a slayer in the future and he oversaw a few Firefly comics.

His next project is supposed to be Cabin In The Woods but no one is sure whether or not MGM will ever release it. He co-wrote the movie with writer/director Drew Goddard.

He’s signed on to direct The Avengers.

Before I discovered Joss Whedon’s shows, I wanted to be a feature film screenwriter and I wanted to write horror because Kevin Williamson did. Whedon, and all of the writers he hired, showed me the possibilities of television writing and made me want to become a television writer.

The time is right spend a week and a two days compiling lists for the best of Joss Whedon. Tomorrow, the top five Firefly episodes will be counted down in numerical order from five to one. A list of Dollhouse episodes will not be done because The Foot hasn’t rewatched the show nearly as many times as Buffy, ANGEL and Firefly have been re-watched. In fact, I’ve seen the second season just once because it’s not out on DVD and I haven’t re-watched season one entirely. Yes.

TOMORROW: The Best Episodes of Firefly!

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK

Joss Whedon as Numfar:

Written by Chris Monigle

Gotta love independent movies and OnDemand. Right now, if I so chose, and for the modest price of 6.99 and 9.99 respectively, I could watch the French movie Summer Hours or the Soderbergh picture starring that porn star everybody is wild about, and I’m not sure why. I’m interested in both. In fact, I think today is the last day I can watch The Girlfriend Experience OnDemand. But here’s the thing: it’s 78 minutes. Paying 9.99 for 78 minutes. But then a new Woody Allen DVD with no extras and a film that runs 90 minutes is sold for 21.99 or something. So, why do I run away from a 9.99 movie in theaters OnDemand and embrace 21.99 DVDS? That’s actually a trick question: I buy DVDs as cheap as possible. The likely candidate to be watched soon is Summer Hours. Foreign films have the ability to tell good stories with actual substance. The movies currently playing in lovable corporate multi-plexes (and can be viewed for the fantastic price of 10.25 a ticket) barely ever leave me with the feeling that the 10.25 was worth it. I’d like to see Hugh Jackman be a badass as much as anybody but not for 10.25 and especially not when (I’m pretty sure) Roger Ebert spoiled the entire ending. The last movie I saw in the theaters (I Love You, Man) entertained me. I enjoyed it. But…bleeding 10.25 for that? I alternately love and hate HBO. Sometimes, they constantly play trash. Other times, I can watch Kung Fu Panda up to 4 times in one day. It’s fantastic. I’ve watched Fred Claus, no matter what part, whenever it’s on. In fact, I’ve literally never paid to see Kung Fu Panda. I worked in a movie theater last summer. The point: I am stingy. I feel like I’ve slighted The Girlfriend Experience though since I made an elitist-blowhard statement about foreign films. The Girlfriend Experience has been getting great reviews. There are many American films that deliver and don’t make you hate yourself for spending an hours + wage on a movie such as Rian Johnson’s ‘Brick,’ and Linklater’s ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Sunset,’ and, for good measure, ‘Waking Life.’ Another point: I’m not sure what my point is because the purpose of this entry is to compare The Mars Volta and LOST. Maybe the point is that I’d like more movies to be offered OnDemand. Probably not though. That’s a lame thesis. How about all you deconstructionists and post-structuralists come out of hiding and tell me what the meaning of this paragraph is since I, the author, do not exist? I don’t know. This whole paragraph is a trainwreck.

Here’s the deal for the forseeable future of my blog, Jacob’s Foot: as LOST won’t be back until January 2010 (which sucks), the blog will branch out into other areas of entertainment and sports (oh yeah. i’m a sports addict). It is my plan to devote space to LOST each and every week until January 2010. I’ll post some old things I’ve written about episodes and seasons past and I’ll write new material for the show. I will be writing about my favorite season five moments sometime in the future. I’ll be doing crazy stuff like I am today with comparing Mars Volta and LOST. As for the branching out part, I’ll be writing about two shows that have been off the air for over five years (Buffy and ANGEL). I’ve seen the entirety of both series more than once so I’ll probably just write down random thoughts about a random episode or season. I’ll write about Dollhouse a bit as well. The big thing will come in September: I will be bringing my weekly NFL picks to Jacob’s Foot. I’ve been writing weekly picks for the last three years. I usually post them every Thursday because I read Bill Simmons’ NFL picks every Friday. It’s like how I am with LOST. I don’t want anything to influence what I write. I want my thoughts to be me and me only. During the summer, I might try to interview a band or something and post it here. I’ve been reading some David Foster Wallace nonfiction so I might report on some things (for instance my 3 days down the shore with friends). The possibilities are endless. Anywho…

 

I’ve finally arrived at the purpose for this entry. The Mars Volta are one of my favorite bands. They’ve made two brilliant records, a great record, and a good record. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez never runs dry of ideas for a record, never fails in the execution of a record, and always finds the best musicians to play the music he’s written. Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s voice is a perfect complement to Omar’s music. I figure there is no better way to, sort of, discuss the Mars Volta records than comparing them to seasons of LOST. There are only four full-length Mars Volta records and five seasons of LOST (well five Mars Volta if you count the live album but I won’t count it). Believe me, I’m aware. But it all works out. 

THE FIRST SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S FIRST RECORD ‘DE-LOUSED IN THE COMATORIUM’

 

The first season of LOST was some experience. I began watching the show because of the involvement of David Fury, a former writer of ANGEL and Buffy. The year was 2004. Autumn to be exact. ANGEL had ended its run in May of 2004. It sucked. I began watching Buffy during my junior year of high school and ANGEL in the summer before my senior year. In fact, my first ANGEL episode was season four’s ‘Orpheus.’ Blew me away. But I digress. I enjoyed LOST immensly. It was riveting, exciting, and it had the best storytelling on television (since theWB cancelled the last Joss show on TV). And then LOST aired ‘Solitary’ on November 17, 2004. It’s that episode which made me into the guy who writes 4,000 words about a finale. Coincidentally enough, David Fury wrote ‘Solitary.’ Solitary introduced the whispers, The Sickness, the idea of The Others. It was awesome. I remember how I felt when Sayid heard the whispers in the jungle as he headed back to camp. And then the following week was the episode when Claire was kidnapped…fantastic. Season 1, as a whole, tells great, great stories full of nuance and feeling. The location is beautiful. Giacchino’s music is beautiful. I think his greatest composition is the one that plays when the raft takes off. Vincent chases after the boat. It’s a moment of triumph. It’s among my favorite scenes of LOST. The first season is 25 episodes. Very few shows can produce a quality 25 episode season. The Office, it seems, failed to put together a consistent season with 26 episodes. Heroes, as always, faltered with a 25 episode third season. LOST never did in the first season. There isn’t a single weak episode in season one. 

 

The first album of The Mars Volta clocks in at over 75+ minutes. 10 tracks of exceptional music. I discovered the band on MTV2 when I watched the video for ‘Inertiatic ESP’. Great, great song. The atmosphere of the album begins with the opener ‘Son et Lumiere’ and the atmosphere continues throughout the record. It’s an emotinal and beautiful record. Inspired by a short story of Cedric’s and the late Jeremy Ward, it tells the story of Cerpin Taxt who attempts to commit suicide by overdosing on a mixture of rat poison and morphine. He lands in a week-long coma in which he experiences visions of humanity and his own psyche. Upon awakening, he is dissatisfied with the real world and successfully kills himself by jumping to his death. The story was inspired by the death of their friend Julio Venegas. The emotion is palpable throughout the 75+ minutes. There’s amazing crescendos and decrescendos throughout (absolutely fantastic in ‘Roulette Dares), beautiful interludes and ambience. I think it’s their best. The totality never fails to move me as a listener. The interlude in ‘Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt’ is mind-blowing. It’s not complicated musically nor is it simple. It’s just right. ‘Cicatriz ESP’ is an up-and-down whirlwind musical experience. The album surprises with beautiful simplicity out of nowhere, emerging from chaos. ‘Drunkship of Lanterns’ builds and builds and builds, and when it bursts, it’s bloody fantastic. I think the album is my favorite of the four. But it’s close. You’ll see.

THE THIRD SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S SECOND ALBUM ‘FRANCES THE MUTE’

It gets a little tricky here, you of my 750,000 readership. I was hoping like hell season three of LOST wouldn’t be like season two. I’ll dive into season two more at its proper place but, suffice to say, I didn’t want to be disappointed by season three of LOST. I was not at all. I often am privy to declaring season three to be my favorite of LOST. Once the season returned from the three-month hiatus in February 2007 after the first six of season three, I knew the show I love was back the way I wanted it. What solidified that for me was Desmond’s ‘Flashes Before Your Eyes,’ an episode that revealed what happened to Desmond after the Hatch explosion/implosion. A gem of an episode. Time-travel is introduced into the show. Emotional character story for Desmond. Charlie being told that he’s gonna have to die. After that episode, LOST could do no wrong. They struck a great balance between revealing things about the Island (New Otherton/Locke’s adventures/Jack being there, ect) and flashbacks that revealed new layers to the characters. It wasn’t the re-hash I felt was going on in season two. Until ‘Whatever Happened, Happened,’ ‘Left Behind’ was my favorite Kate episode. ‘Par Avion’ is my favorite Claire episode. ‘Further Instructions’ is an underrated Locke episode. ‘Catch-22′ is a great Desmond episode (Flashes is better of course). It’s a great Locke season which features his Island tour of blowing things up. Fantastic Ben/Locke moments. I love, love, love the Island stories like Hurley conning Sawyer into being decent. Season Three is terrific. My favorite Juliet episode is in season three ‘One of Us.’ The great unkillable Mikhail is in season three and Charlie’s arc was fantastic. ‘Greatest Hits’ is among LOST’s best. And, then, of course, the finale features a flash back with the infamous line by Jack: ‘WE HAVE TO GO BACK!’ I get goosebumps just writing about it. It’s no coincidence that the story tightened once Lindelof and Cuse got an end-date from ABC. Season Three tells a terrific story. There’s catharsis (The Brig with Sawyer) and Sawyer finally gets Tom for taking the kid off the raft. It’s an extremely satisfying season and has terrific re-watch value. I’ve seen the episodes multiple times and never tire of them. Even ‘Stranger in a Strange Land,’ Jack’s tattoo episode, is better on re-watch (when that originally aired, it ruined STEVE’s week. he hates that episode). I love season three. 

Frances The Mute is the second album of The Mars Volta. I remember listening to it during my senior year of high school (fantastic year all-in-all: first season of LOST, The Everglow by Mae, Frances The Mute by the Mars Volta, Kairos, and general kick-ass stuff with school and friends and whatnot). It’s five tracks. The label forced the band to divide it up into 12 tracks though there are just five songs. There are 4 songs that are over 12+ minutes song. The Widow is the shortest at just over 4 minutes. The record was inspired by a diary the late Jeremy Ward found in his days as a repo man, and noted the similarities between his life and the author–they were both adopted. The diary told of the author’s search for his parents. Frances The Mutes follows this story. The opener ‘Cygmund…Vismund Cygnus’ opens acoustically before kicking into drive as Cedric flips between the English and Spanish language. The breakdown in ‘Cygmund’ is terrific. It’s simple. It breaks down and then begins to build back up again into the thesis of the record ‘only these names I clutch will bring me to my home.’ Musically, Omar upped the ante. Each member recorded their parts separately–a technique Miles Davis implemented: refused to let members know the other members part, forcing each to play their part as if it were a self-sufficient song. Each member recorded to the pulse of a metronome. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante plays on the record and Flea (who played bass on De-Loused) plays the trumpet. The final song ‘Cassandra Gemini’ is 32 minutes. There’s absolutely no filler in it either. Omar covers a whole range of musical styles in Cassandra: jazz, latin, jazz fusion, etc. I’m all about the music with the Mars Volta. I don’t put alot into the lyrics. Cedric’s voice is another instrument. Cedric’s not as good on Frances as he on Deloused on Bedlam but he’s pretty good. Frances The Mute is a remarkable album though.

THE FIFTH SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S FOURTH ALBUM ‘BEDLAM IN GOLIATH’

 

There’s plenty of already written things for the fifth season of LOST so I’ll keep it brief. The Time-Travel season. The first five episodes of season five are frantic and jump from time to time while telling some damn good stories. The season settles down once the Oceanic 6 get back to the Island. The season did a good job going back to the past to prepare everyone for the future. I feel like the season was geared toward the fans who never left. It really dove into the mythology of the show at, literally, the expense of characters. Barely any Desmond. No Claire. Strings of episodes set in Dharma. No Dharma when they were in 2007. But everything was very cohesive by the time the finale came. Nothing felt forced. I loved the emphasis of the themes of redemption and destiny as we saw with Sayid and his struggle with his demons, Jack developing a Lockean disposition. ‘The Incident’ is quite simply fantastic. Not a weak moment in the entire episode. Lindelof, Cuse, and the writers took a bold chance by moving the show 3 years. It didn’t get talked about much and I barely wrote about it but its worth bringing up because of how Sayid, Kate, and Jack changed off-the-Island. Season Five was about the past, the present, and the future and, perhaps, the importance of time and time’s relation with destiny, and destiny and the Island bringing these characters to places where they played a vital role in what became their present. It’s my favorite Ben season. I enjoyed Ben as a defeated man. Desmond’s episode kicked ass. Loved the scene with him talking about England to his son. I enjoyed the character development of Jack and Sawyer. Loved everything with Locke and “Locke”. I liked experiencing Dharma. I liked meeting Radzinsky and the development of Goodspeed. That scene with a hungover, depressed Goodspeed and Sawyer is among my favorite moments of the season. I liked that Miles actually resolved his daddy issues. Loved Pierre Chang. He was hilarious. So yeah, Season Five is very good. I’m sure I’ll more about season five in the future.

 

‘Bedlam in Goliath’ is a wild album. It’s not as experimental or progressive as the previous three Mars Volta record. It’s more straight-forward. The album doesn’t slow down until ‘Torniquet Man.’ ‘Goliath’ is an chaotic song that is amazin. The story behind the album is that it was born out of an Oujia board Omar bought for Cedric while in Jerusalem. They dubbed it ‘The Soothsayer’ as it would give names, make demands, and were contacted by three different people who were of one form–Goliath. The band claim Goliath haunted the studio where they recorded and nearly ruined the record. The album chronicles this Goliath. It’s a kick-ass record and it brought the kick-ass back to The Mars Volta (they may have gotten too lax with Amputecture’). The album is also the first without Jon Theodore. Thomas Pridgen (who is out of this world on the album) replaced drummer Jon Theodore. It’s an album that is very tight musically. Thematically, it deals with religion and spirituality. ‘Soothsayer’ begins with a religious song/chant/whatever you want to call it. ‘Cavalettas’ dives into the world of Goliath and the chaos he brought into the band. It’s a very good record. I enjoy it immensley. 

THE SECOND SEASON OF LOST AND THE MARS VOLTA’S THIRD ALBUM ‘AMPUTECHTURE’

The second season of LOST sits better with me now than it once did. Season two suffered from re-runs. It felt like ABC would air two new weeks of LOST followed by five weeks of re-runs and so on and so on. Season two has some great stuff. For instance, the introduction of Desmond and the Dharma Intiative, the button question, the introduction of Ben. I never cared for Ana Lucia though. I didn’t really care about What Kate Did when season two rolled around, I was mostly anticipating The Others and never really got it until the end of the season. I felt like the flashbacks were re-hashing things we already knew about characters. It’s in no way a perfect season but it’s not terrible. It’s good. Sayid’s episode is a highlight as is ‘Man of Science, Man of Faith,’ ‘Orientation,’ ‘Everybody Hates Hugo,’ ‘Lockdown,’ ‘The 23rd Psalm,’ ‘Live Together, Die Alone,’ and ‘?’. I still love the confrontation between Tom and Jack, Sawyer, and Locke in ‘The Hunting Party.’ I think the season suffered from the no-end date though. 

 

‘Amputechture’ isn’t a bad Mars Volta album. It just doesn’t have that ‘hook’ that the others have. I love the opening track as well as ‘Viscera Eyes’ and ‘Day of the Baphomets.’ ‘Tetragrammaton’ is very cool. I’m a big fan of the lyrical output of the record. The music isn’t as good though. Cedric said this about the album: 

“This album’s a commentary about the fear of God instead of the love of God, which goes hand-in-hand with Catholicism…To me, religion is the reason there is so much conflict in this world, and I think it’s just so unnecessary to believe in this blue-eyed, white-bearded, white-haired God. Amputechture is my personal way of describing enlightenment, or just the celebration of this person who is a shaman and not a crazy person. It’s about the pineal gland and how it has certain elements that mimic a DMT experience, and how we can come up with cures for cancer and AIDS if we’re more in tune with what’s going on in the rainforest.”

THE FOURTH SEASON OF LOST

 

Since there’s no other albums of The Mars Volta, Season Four stands apart from what I was doing but I still wanted to write about season four. The season opened with a bang (Hurley yelling ‘I’m one of the Oceanic 6) which really set up everything. Throughout, I wondered who was also part of the Oceanic 6, wondered who would live and die on the Island. The finale was intense, folks. I was yelling at the television, pacing, standing, sitting, etc. The knowledge that the Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Aaron, and Sun got off didn’t kill my enjoyment at all because I was left wondering what happened to those on the Island. I was prepared for anything in that finale. I still remember my jaw-dropping when it was revealed Kate had Aaron in Eggtown. The Constant is one of the best of LOST. Henry Ian Cusick shines in that episode. As I wrote previously, Hurley’s arc is great. I really dug his ‘I talk to dead people’ angle. ‘The Beginning of the End’ is, maybe, my favorite Hurley episode. I liked that the series devoted an episode to Charlie’s death and the characters reaction. Hurley’s speech (I’m listening to my friend! I’m listening to Charlie), Jack thinking about Charlie with Kate at the Fuselage (a call back to the Pilot), Claire’s reaction Charlie. Season Four also brought us Faraday, Miles, Frank, and Charlotte. The finale offered a few surprises such as Desmond reuniting with Penny and Frank getting off of the Island. We also got closure on the story of Michael. ‘Meet Kevin Johnson’ was a highlight because we got to see how Michael dealt with his own past. It also was something that the Island would not let Michael die. Keamy was a great villain. I remember the scene when Juliet told Jin that Sun cheated on him in ‘Ji Yeon.’ Very shocking, folks. All-in-all, season four is terrific. I feared that the writer’s strike would kill it but it didn’t. It’s a very quality season. ‘The Shape of Things To Come’ is great for many reasons. Here’s one: I loved that it opened with Ben after turning the donkey wheel. Loved Sawyer being a badass. Didn’t love Keamy blowing up Claire’s house. Season Four is fantastic. 

Believe-you-me, readers, this is not the last time I write about any of these seasons. I got really into writing about each. That was fun. Hope you enjoyed reading about it. Here’s some other random thoughts:

–I’m watching ‘Field Of Dreams’ as I write this. It’s a great movie. I will use this movie (as Simmons does) to determine whether or not a woman has a soul. The poignant thing about this movie now besides the many poignant moments in the film is that the Phillies video team used the Field of Dreams music in their tribute video to Harry the K. It gets a little dusty when I hear the music and think of Harry the K. Phillies baseball isn’t the same without him.

–I maintain that the saddest scene in ANGEL is when Angel says goodbye to baby Connor in season three’s ‘Sleep Tight’ because I know everything that happens after that moment. I don’t want to spoil things for anyone planning on watching ANGEL but I dare anyone find me a sadder moment than that, taking in account the totality of the series.

–It’s that time of the year where I begin making moves in fantasy baseball. I tend to wait 2 months to to assess players. I’ve made some moves and I am now wondering when to pull the trigger on fixing my pitching. My problem in fantasy is that I’m loyal. I like the guys I draft to be the guys I win with. My i dont like the mets squad is pretty good but I need to turn around my pitching. I’ve got guys on my radar but the question indeed: when to begin change? MLB Network is also my favorite channel. 

I think I’m done. Have a splendid weekend, folks!